So, you’re noticing that your hair is starting to thin out. Maybe it started with a few hairs and then some months later, you find clumps in the drain. Why is this happening? And more importantly, what can be done about it?

First off, you need to know that you are not alone in this balding battle. In fact, a lot of foreigners start to notice that their hair is falling out after they’ve made the big move to South Korea. It could be from the stress of uprooting your life, starting a new job, or from your studying woes. It’s also possible that the source of your hair loss is a change of diet or lifestyle. Even things like genetics can play a role. If you can cross out all these factors, it may be environmental.

For most of the issues outlined above, addressing and correcting them may be the key in reversing your hair loss. However, for others, you might want to bring out the bigger guns. That’s where I come in and suggest these three solutions to start growing your hair again.

I have personally used all the solutions and treatments outlined below since late February of 2020 and I have seen great improvements over the last year and a half. So hopefully if you try them too, your hair will come back even more vibrant and luscious than before!

First Line of Defense: A Shower Head Filter

Some people believe that the water in Korea is the culprit. I personally think that the true issue is the pipes. There are a lot of older plumbing systems in the buildings that release debris, rust, and other impurities in the water that will ultimately end up all over our hair and skin. Just thinking about it makes me uncomfortable.

That’s why the very first thing I recommend you to do is to go out and buy a shower head filter. These days you can find them easily in stores in Korea such as E-mart, Homeplus, Olive Young, Lalavla, etc. The filters range from basic, no frills ones, to ones that release fragrances, to ones that also imbue other properties into the water, resulting in even greater benefits to the hair and skin. For example, the one I currently use is called the Vita Cleansing Filter Version 2.0 by Not4U. The filter alone costs 9,900 won but you can buy a set that includes the shower head itself as well. You can purchase it at Olive Young or if you know a bit of Korean you can buy it directly from there site if you click here. What makes this one so great? The secret of Not4U’s filter is that it not only filters out all the gunk from the pipes, but it infuses the water with vitamin C, which will help to brighten, moisten, and soothe your skin. In other words, it packs a double punch of saving your hair and making your skin soft and healthy.

Need More? Try These: Topical Hair Loss Solutions

Let’s say your friends have already told you to get a shower head filter, and it’s just not doing the job. Then I think it would be time to add a hair loss treatment to your routine. These two treatments when used together can help stop your hair from falling out and regrow your hair.

Ell-Cranell

In the mornings, you can use Ell-Cranell. You can order this form any pharmacy without a prescription for 40,000 won for a 100 ml bottle. My local pharmacy doesn’t usually carry it, but they are nice enough to order it for me, so I usually purchase three at a time. The active ingredient is Alfatradiol which is supposed to decrease testosterone levels. Decreasing testosterone in turn reduces DHT, a hormone that can make you lose your hair faster. I was advised by a hair loss specialist to use this in the mornings because it is lightweight and non-greasy, so you can easily style your hair and go about your day after applying it. The directions say to part your hair and apply about 3ml of the product, and then massage for one minute. However, I will say that it’s hard to figure out how much you have used, so I’d suggest using a dropper instead. If you use 3ml per day, then this product will last you about a month. It’s recommended to use daily for a minimum of 3-6 months and then you can reduce usage to every other day or every three days.

Minoxidil

The other daily topical solution I would recommend to use at night is good old fashion Minoxidil. This one you can also buy without a prescription from any pharmacy for 40,000 won as well. There are several theories as to why Minoxidil works. Being a vasodilator, it widens blood vessels so that the hair can have more oxygen-rich blood, and it also helps keep your hair in the growth phase of its cycle for longer. If you are female, it is advised to try a lower percentage first and then if that neither helps nor harms you, you can try a higher percentage. Normally this is applied twice a day, but my doctor recommended to only use it at night because it is dries a little sticky on the scalp and hair. This bottle comes with both a spray and an applicator, but, like I said before, it’s easier to measure out using the dropper. It also makes it easier to apply to the scalp without accidentally wasting product. Using it like this means that one bottle lasts me 6 months. This is not a fast working solution, so you have to wait at least 4 months to see any effects.

The major downside is that these two solutions are something that you have to incorporate into your routine for the rest of your life. They are not permanent fixes and once you stop using them, the effects goes away with them. However, I think that’s a small price to pay for keeping my hair. And considering I have a huge multi-step skincare routine, adding in a morning and night hair treatment isn’t too much of a big deal.

The Big Guns: Scalp Injections at a Hair Loss Clinic

If you have gotten to this part of the post, you must want the best weapon I know against hair loss. Going to a scalp clinic. Have you ever heard of one? I sure didn’t until I started doing my own research on how to stop my hair from falling out. There are a variety of them in Korea, but the one I went to was called Maxwell Medical Center and they have several branches all throughout Seoul. The one I personally went to was in Jongro. I know that the doctor speaks some English, but I’d advise you to bring a Korean speaker along for the first session to help translate and walk you through the treatments so you will know what to expect in future sessions. On your first visit, you fill out a form describing everything from your sleep patterns to your stress levels, to your diet. Then they take photos and analyze your scalp before discussing different packages. It was confirmed that I was suffering from female pattern hair loss and that my hair was thinning but that it could be revived.

 The first package I received was a set of 18 Mezotherapy shots. These shots contain a mystery cocktails of ingredients injected directly into the scalp to help hair growth. It’s not the most comfortable feeling in the world to receive these injections, but as we all know, beauty is pain. Before or after these shots the package also includes smart lux light therapy sessions which is supposed to stimulate hair growth by improving blood circulation and revitalizing the scalp. The total for 18 treatments was 1.8 million won, but because I went during the grand opening of that branch, I had received a steep discount at the time. I went weekly and then after those treatments were over, I decided to buy the 10-treatment package which was 1,120,000 won without any discount. I did however, manage to convince them to give me an extra treatment because I paid all at once and I was a longtime customer at that point.  I know it sounds like a lot of money, but you can pay in monthly installments to help make a little easier on the wallet. The treatments are relatively fast, taking about 40 minutes in total to complete.

This must sound a little extreme, but the thing you have to know is there is sort of a point of no return when it comes to hair loss. You see, your hair goes through something called miniaturization: the hair gets smaller and smaller until it disappears and the follicle itself closes over and new hair cannot grow. That is why I personally think it is important to visit a scalp clinic at the first sign of hair loss to monitor and reverse it before it’s too late.

Conclusion

Whichever treatment you decide to go with, I wish you the best of luck on your hair journey! I know the struggle and embarrassment of thinning hair, and so if any of these products and procedures help your hair grow again, then I completed my mission.

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